


Pooles in Pajamas

by VirginiasWolf



Series: Life Moves On [10]
Category: Death in Paradise
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Menstruation, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 08:22:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20404633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirginiasWolf/pseuds/VirginiasWolf
Summary: Richard and Camille's wedding was supposed to be fairly traditional and standard, at least until Camille has an unwanted visitor arrive on the big day and Richard is left proving that he'll do anything, even be spontaneous for his future wife.Part of the Life Moves On series and takes place after London Calling with a time jump of about three months.





	Pooles in Pajamas

Camille thinks the tradition of a bride and groom not being allowed to spend the night before the wedding together is a little ridiculous. They're both middle-aged adults and have also had sexual relations numerous times, so it isn't like there is any "innocence" being preserved. However, the tradition seems to make her future inlaws happy, and she wants to keep an image of feeling perfect about everything for the special photo album they plan to send to her mother, so Richard had spent the night at his parents' flat and Camille wakes up alone, and drenched in blood.

  
She supposes the second thing isn't really a shock, as her period is for the most part on time, but no bride wants to spend her wedding day like this. Still, she's determined to not let this get her down. Today she is going to marry the love of her life, and a little blood won't stop that.

  
Except, by the time she arrives at the hall they've rented for the ceremony it isn't just a little blood. Looking in the mirror she can see exactly how pale she looks, and she is in the kind of pain that makes her want to whimper and curl up into a ball.

  
She can't let herself show weakness though. She's almost certain that Richard will assume any doubt she experiences is because she has decided that she can do better than him. He's such a wonderfully sweet man, but he still has such low self-esteem that no matter how many times she tells him that she loves him and wants him, he still seems to be unable to believe that anyone would willingly choose him. She can't let him down like that, even if her own body is betraying her throughout the whole ceremony.

  
She manages to sit through allowing Richard's aunt to put her hair into an updo although she does find herself grimacing as her makeup is being applied, and this causes the aunt to mutter, "Don't be a bridezilla."

  
At this, Camille can't help but shoot the irritating woman one of her death glares. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have the same effect on the older woman as it would on her nephew. Camille wants to scream out that she's in pain, but she can't. She wants the memorable scene she makes to be one of exactly how much love and devotion she has for her new husband, not one that labels her as "that bitch that Cousin Richard decided to marry."

  
However, the moment she attempts to slip into her dress, the constriction caused by her bloating causes the cramps to become unbearable, and this time she does scream out primally before collapsing on the floor.

  
-  
Richard's stomach has been in an absolute knot about today. He desperately wishes that he hadn't agreed to fall to the tradition of the bride and groom spending their final night apart before marriage, but Camille seemed to want to keep with it, and above all, he wants her happy today and wants everything to look perfect for the wedding album they are going to send to Catherine.

  
After all, despite what Camille had previously insisted about her mother genuinely missing him, he's still under the impression that she won't take well to the double whammy of finding out that not only is he genuinely alive, but now Catherine is actually going to be stuck with his presence in her life. At least if they put on a good show, maybe his new mother-in-law will forget that her daughter has chosen to marry someone so irritating.

  
His nervousness has only been increased by how he hasn't even been allowed to actually see Camille before the ceremony. They may now be in the same hall, but his mother and aunts have cloistered her off behind closed doors as an attempt to continue the whole tradition of it, and he's stuck talking with his father and several uncles and male cousins that he barely remembers as he waits for everything to be ready.

  
That is until what has to be the most savagely pained scream he has ever heard in his life suddenly rips through the hall; a scream that clearly is in the voice of his soon-to-be wife. At this point, all thoughts of propriety and tradition slip out of his mind. In their place, a protective instinct takes over. Camille may be the one who is clearly superior in terms of physical strength and mettle, but that doesn't mean he can't comfort and protect her whenever she needs it.

  
He becomes a man on a mission, pushing through several doors before finally reaching the room in which she is supposed to be getting ready.

  
"Richard, you can't be in here," his aunt, Jo, hisses trying to block his path and he suddenly remembers that she, in particular, is an extreme stickler for tradition.

  
"I was able to open the door, so clearly I can be in here. Now please remove yourself from my path or I will be forced to move you myself."

  
Aunt Jo is now doing an impressive impression of a goldfish, but she does at least step out of his path allowing him to see the two figures sitting on the floor. One is his mother, who seems to be attempting some form of comfort and the other is Camille who is half-clothed and curled up into a ball sobbing and whimpering in pain.

  
Immediately he kneels down in front of her, although he is initially unsure where exactly he can touch her without hurting her, so in a panic, he looks to his mother hoping for some clarity on the situation. "I believe she's having her monthly visitor."

  
It takes a second for the meaning to click, but when it does he turns back to his fiancee and quietly asks, "Is that what's happening Love?"

  
Camille only manages to nod her head in response.

  
By this time the other women in the room have cleared out, leaving the two of them alone together, and he tries placing a calming hand on Camille's back to steady her.

  
After a moment she looks up at him. "Oh god Richard, it's awful. Today is supposed to be our big day and I can't even fit into my dress. I look awful, and I'm in so much pain that I know I'm not going to want to make love to you tonight which makes me an awful wife."

  
In what he is sure must be characterized as true Richard fashion, his mind is working so quickly that he accidentally blurts out his next words without thinking about how they might sound to her. "Can I take off your dress?"

  
The murder glare makes a full-fledged appearance and she spits "I just told you that I'm in too much pain for that, and all you can think about is forcing yourself on me?!"

  
"Camille, I'd never do that to you. I-I can see that the dress is hurting you and I don't want you to be in pain."

  
Instead of responding directly, she begins another round of loud sobs, looking incredibly small and helpless.

  
Richard knows that touching the wrong area while she's in this state could very easily lead to himself being bodily harmed, and he still has terrible memories of the broken nose provided by Charles Lambert that healed up only a few months ago, but he can also tell that the dress really is hurting her and this genuinely hurts him, so he gingerly attempts to pry the fabric away from her body. Eventually, the sobs begin to quiet and Camille slowly begins to help with his efforts.

  
As the harmful garment falls to the floor, Richard does a quick look around the room for something to cover her with. It isn't that he's ashamed of seeing her like that or too lecherous to control his urges around her when she's in underwear, but he knows enough about menstrual cycles to know that she needs some form of heat to help stifle her cramps. Nearby lies the robe that she had worn when her hair and makeup was being done and he stands up for a moment to retrieve it. At first, it looks as if his movement is going to cause Camille to dissolve into round three of sobs. Her hormone fluctuation must be particularly high this month. He won't state that out loud though, because he genuinely likes being in one piece. Instead, he grabs the robe and returns to her as quickly as possible, wrapping the garment around her before attempting to gently pull her onto his lap.

  
"I can't believe I'm ruining our wedding day like this," Camille murmurs as she snuggles into his shoulder. There's an almost defeated and broken look in her brown eyes. "Your aunt called me a bridezilla and I can't exactly show my mother pictures of me walking down the aisle in my underwear and...Richard, are you even listening to me right now?"

  
Okay, so the fight hasn't quite gone out of her yet, and she does seem to be on the verge of becoming very annoyed with him. Richard, however, is having one of the lightbulb moments that would typically herald the solving of a case. The idea he's come up with is admittedly a bit ludicrous and likely won't make Catherine any happier than seeing her daughter get married in her underwear, but right now all he can think of is making Camille actually feel happy again. "The matching pajamas that Liz gave us as a wedding present. They're in the flat aren't they?"

  
Camille appraises him with a wary look. "Yes, but some stupid pajamas are the last thing on my mind right now!"

  
Richard suddenly wonders if the suggestion he is about to make is indeed crazy. He wants Camille to feel as genuinely comfortable and happy during their vows as possible, but he is also aware that suggesting they wear pajamas to get married goes against everything she knows about him, and perhaps that will make her even more uncomfortable. Still, he has to push on. "I thought that perhaps you might be more comfortable in them than you would be in a wedding dress?"

  
At this Camille looks at him curiously. "So you want me to wear my pajamas while you're still in a tuxedo? Wouldn't that draw the wrong kind of attention to me?"

  
"No, because I'd be in my pajamas as well. It would make us seem spontaneous."

  
At this Camille lets out a somewhat bitter, but not remotely sarcastic or cruel laugh. "It might be a bit of a stretch for people to assume you can be spontaneous, and it's not very traditional. What will your aunts and my mother think?"

  
"I don't know, and for once I genuinely don't care." Richard tries to think carefully about what he wants to say next. He isn't very good at this kind of talk, but this is Camille, someone he feels safe and comfortable with. "We're not marrying each other's families, we're marrying each other, and while I still think rules and tradition do have their place in society, during a wedding it is more important that the bride and groom act and dress in a way that is comfortable to themselves and to each other even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else. You are the most important person in my life Camille, and although I know I can't take away your pain, and that I apparently do add to it at times, I love you and I want to see you as genuinely happy and comfortable as possible, not just today, but for the rest of our lives."

  
When he finishes speaking, she stares at him in surprise for a moment and he finds himself wondering what exactly he has said that hurt or offended her until she reaches up and plants a soft, chaste kiss on his lips. "That was the most romantic thing you've ever said to me." Smiling shyly she adds, "So, I guess we're going to have to ask someone to get our pajamas."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kind of at a crossroads with this series. When I wrote the first story I genuinely hadn't planned to write others, which is why it actually takes place after all of the other ones in the series. Logically, this would be the story that would take place right before "The Package" (although now that we know the wedding was less than traditional, I think a second chapter about looking through the wedding album might be warranted) so it might make sense to make this be the last story in this series, but also I have more universe events planned including child adoption and perhaps a return visit to Saint Marie, especially since these events I have written so far all seem like they good have theoretically taken place before season five even started (depending on the time jump between four and five). So what do you guys think? Should this be the final story, or would you like more about the future teams interacting with or at least mentioning Richard and Camille?


End file.
